Fox News "Democrats" Schoen And Caddell Urge Obama Not To Run In 2012

Fox News Democratic contributors DougSchoen and Pat Caddell can always be counted on to bash Democrats with Republican talking points while dressed in faux Democratic clothing. But the two have outdone themselves in a Washington Post editorial today in which they urge President Obama to achieve greatness by not running for re-election. It's just a coincidence, I suppose, that their thoughts are in synch with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's "top political priority" over the next two years - preventing President Obama from getting a second term. It's also just a coincidence, I'm sure, that this op-ed should come out on the eve of conservative David Horowitz' "Restoration Weekend" where Schoen and Caddell will appear with the likes of Michele Bachmann, Ann Coulter, RalphPeters and PastorJohnHagee. Furthermore, Schoen actively helped fundraise for a Republican candidate last month.

The editorial would be laughable if it were not given its undeserved respectability by the Washington Post. The two write:

Obama has the opportunity to seize the high ground and the imagination of the nation once again, and to galvanize the public for the hard decisions that must be made. The only way he can do so, though, is by putting national interests ahead of personal or political ones.

To that end, we believe Obama should announce immediately that he will not be a candidate for reelection in 2012.

That's right, "Democrats" Caddell and Schoen are saying that it's in the national interest for "their" president not to run again.'

But wait, there's more. "We do not come to this conclusion lightly," these two claim. But they did come to it without indicating much thought about Republican behavior. "The United States will need nothing short of consensus," they say, to bring the deficit and spending under control. They argue that if Obama doesn't run, it would be "harder" for Republicans to be uncooperative, partly because it would defang McConnell's priority. "If the president were to demonstrate a clear degree of bipartisanship," Schoen and Caddell think, "it would force the Republicans to meet him halfway. If they didn't, they would look intransigent, as the GOP did in 1995 and 1996, when Bill Clinton first advocated a balanced budget. Obama could then go to the Democrats for tough cuts to entitlements and look to the Republicans for difficult cuts on defense."

The two Fox Newsers don't bother to explain how they "know" that Republicans would rather bend than look "intransigent." Because it didn't work out well for them in 1995 and 96 when oh, by the way, Clinton ran and won re-election? Do these guys really think the only way for a still popular Obama to have a successful presidency is to grant McConnell's greatest wish and brighten the GOP's electoral chances in 2012 two years in advance?

More to the point, does the Washington Post really think this is legitimate Democratic strategizing? Apparently, it does, because the Post says it is hosting Caddell and Schoen for an online chat tomorrow at 11 AM ET, (though the chat page only mentions Schoen being present.

Although President Obama would probably be more interested in John Boehner's prescription for overcoming gridlock than Schoen's and Caddell's, it's a safe bet the two just won themselves some approving face time on Fox News prime time this coming week. So the vicious cycle of these two phony Democrats' phony credibility will continue.